DAMASCUS, (PIC)– Deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau Moussa Abu Marzouk has confirmed that contacts are being made with Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas to end the current Palestinian political split, but he said that the persecution of Hamas elements in the West Bank must be curbed before reconciliation can be realized.

”Until now there is no final understanding concerning the proposed topic or venue for the open meeting,” he told the PIC. ”I believe this issue will be resolved soon,” he added, but he said that all that was raised that reconciliation will be brokered or unbrokered recently in the media is either based on incomplete information or is not true.

Hamas vision to end split

”Abu Mazen (Abbas) has contacted many states, such as Syria, Turkey, Egypt and others in order to promote his initiative, which has raised a lot of talk in the media about the subject,” Abu Marzouk said concerning Hamas’s stance on the Abbas’s initiative.

”Abu Mazen has launched an initiative, and we have had reservations on it, because it is based on one point, which is to form a Palestinian government with two principle tasks: elections and reconstruction, while Hamas’s vision is based on all of the topics that need to be discussed to end the split on solid foundations and so past experiences do not recur, specifically the Makkah agreement experience.”

When discussing Hamas’s position on Abbas’s desire to visit the Strip, Abu Marzouk said: ”We wanted the visit to be in the light of reconciliation, not in the light of division. Which means that when we have done away with the split and then the visit comes, we would defended our people and ourselves from all of the negative aspects that would have risen if the visit was in the light of and internal interactions. The idea was to resolve pending issues and end the split, and then Abbas would decide how and when to go to the Gaza Strip. And we will undoubtedly welcome this visit.”

Egyptian sponsorship and Turkish role

In response to media rumors that Egypt will broker the next rounds of reconciliation talks, Abu Marzouk said that Cairo at present ”does not want to directly sponsor the dialogue, but it has not objected to coming to both parties after split is ended to celebrate. Egypt wants to welcome the conclusions and not the actions and dialogues between the parties.”

He went on to say that the Egypt’s stance on Palestinian issues as a whole has made major turns for the better. He believed Palestinian issues would take priority in Egyptian foreign issues for the interest of the Palestinians.

”Turkey has its presence in regional issues, especially the Palestinian issue. We welcome this activity, because we believe Turkey has served the Palestinians greatly and has stood for Palestinian rights, and it is one of the most prominet states that stood by [Hamas] directly after the elections and defended its right to rule after election,” the senior Hamas official said about Turkey’s recent movement in the issue of Palestinian reconciliation, a movement he called ”active”.

”We met with Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu in Damascus, and he will also meet with Abu Mazen. He met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister which wants to participate with Turkey in reconciliation efforts.”

Hamas men detained in West Bank

When asked if Hamas’s visions have changed concerning the political prisoners in the West Bank, Abu Marzouk said: ”All issues must be kept open in the dialogues because they are interrelated. We are not able to go to elections or reconciliation while Hamas is banned in the West Bank and its elements are persecuted or in prisons and its institutions are closed.”

”The climate must be created for reconciliation in the West Bank. I’m not only talking about the West Bank. What applies in the West Bank also applies in the Gaza Strip. But everyone knows that the security persecution in the West Bank is a lot worse than what has happened in Gaza. Fatah now enjoys great freedom in the Strip regarding its organizations and movements, and internal elections have been held there.”